Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - November, 2018

Notes:
S S Deswal, a 1984 batch IPS officer of Haryana cadre, has been appointed as the new Director General (DG) of Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) for a period up to his superannuation on August 31, 2021. He succeeded R K Pachnanda. Prior to this post, Deswal was the DG of the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB). The ITBP was raised on 24 October 1962 under the CRPF Act, in the wake of the Sino-Indian War of 1962. It is one of the five Central Armed Police Forces of India. Apart from its primary task of guarding the 3,488-km India-China border, where ITBP troops are deployed at freezing heights of up to 18,700 feet, the paramilitary force is tasked with rendering a variety of duties in the internal security domain, including undertaking anti-Naxal operations in Chhattisgarh.

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On November 1, former Indian cricket captain Rahul Dravid has officially been inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame for his stupendous achievements in international cricket. In a ceremony held ahead of the fifth and final ODI between India and West Indies in Thiruvananthapuram, Dravid was presented with the HoF cap by Sunil Gavaskar. With this, Dravid became only the fifth player from India to be named in the elite list. The other four Indians are former skippers Bishan Singh Bedi, Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev and Anil Kumble. Dravid, also popularly known as ‘the Wall’ had been a long-standing rock of Indian cricket for over 15 years. In all, he aggregated 13,288 runs in 164 Tests with 36 centuries and 10,889 runs in 344 ODIs with 12 centuries. He was also a brilliant slip fielder and finished his Test career in 2012 with 210 catches, which is a world record. He is currently the head coach of India A and India U-19 sides.

Notes:
Naveen Patnaik, the Chief Minister of Odisha, has recently launched ‘Soura Jalanidhi’ scheme which aims at increasing use of solar energy for helping farmers in irrigation. ‘Soura Jalanidhi’ is a dug well based solar pump irrigation system in convergence mode. Under the scheme, 5,000 solar pumps will be provided to farmers at a subsidy of 90 per cent to irrigate 2,500 acres of land. The chief minister also launched the web portal of this scheme on the occasion. The event was attended by 1,000 farmers from 30 districts through video conference. In the first phase, the facility will be available for farmers where electicity is not avaialable for operating pump sets. The solar pumps will be given to the beneficiary farmers at a subsidy of 90%. A total of Rs 27 crore will be spent for the programme. Farmers having valid farmer identification, belonging to small and marginal categories having minimum 0.5 acre cultivable land and a dug well will be covered under the programme.

Notes:
19-times world champion Pankaj Advani has won the second leg of Asian Snooker Tour title by delivering a power-packed performance to outclass China’s Ju Reti 6-1 in the final at Jinan, China.With this, Advani has become the first Indian to win an Asian Snooker Tour event. The IBSF World Billiards and Snooker Championships is less than a fortnight away and the Indian star cueist is the defending champion in both sports. The new 10-red format of the Tour was well-received by all players as some fine performances were on display throughout the second leg. Pankaj Advani will now have to immediately switch to Billiards as Myanmar hosts the prestigious world championships from November 12 to 27.

Notes:
On October 31, Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled the ‘Statue of Unity’ in Narmada district of Gujarat on the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. Sardar Patel – who served as the first Home Minister of independent India – is credited with uniting all 562 princely states in pre-independent India to build the Republic of India. That is why it is called the ‘Statue Of Unity’. It is the world’s tallest statue, with a height of 182m. It located around 3.5 km downstream from the Sardar Sarovar Dam, on islet Sadhu Bet on the bed of the river Narmada. The statue was designed by 93-year-old acclaimed sculptor Ram V. Sutar, who is Padma Bhushan awardee. It is built by Larsen & Toubro Ltd at a cost of Rs. 2,989 crore. The Statue of Unity is made up of 70,000 tonnes of cement, 18,500 tonnes of reinforcement steel, 6,000 tonnes of structural steel and 1,700 metric tonnes of bronze, which was used for the outer cladding of the structure. The viewing gallery at the height of 135 metres can accommodate up to 200 people at a time.

Notes:
First time in Middle east, Qatar will host the 23rd edition of the World Corporate Games (WCG) in Doha in 2019, which will provide an opportunity for corporations around the world to showcase their competitive prowess through sports. It will be the first time that the WCG incorporate eSports and mindsports. The event features both individual and team competitions, open equally to women and men of all ages and abilities with team events for skilled, semi-skilled or novice participants.It is an all-inclusive event with paragames integrated for various categories as well. The World Corportate Games (WCG) aims to bring together, the local, regional and international business sporting community. The sporting event takes place every one to two years and the 2018 edition was held in Houston in the US.

Notes:
Simone Biles, an American artistic gymnast, has become the first ever gymnast to win 13 world championship gold medals with victory in the individual vault competition in Doha, Qatar on November 2, 2018. She broke the all-time record set by Belarusian male gymnast Vitaly Scherbo in 1996.

Notes:
The United Nations (UN) has designated every 31st of October as World Cities Day (WCD) to promote the international community’s interest in global urbanization, enhance cooperation among countries and cities in meeting opportunities and addressing challenges of urbanization, and contribute to sustainable urban development. This year, the United Nations has selected the 2018 theme ‘Building Sustainable and Resilient Cities’ because cities need support to become resilient and develop their capacity to absorb the impact of hazards, protect and preserve human life and limit damage to and destruction of public and private assets while continuing to provide infrastructure and services after a crisis. The main event was celebrated in Liverpool, UK.

Notes:
Under the provisions of Article 124 of the Constitution, the President has recently appointed four new judges — Justices Hemant Gupta, R Subhash Reddy, M R Shah and Ajay Rastogi – of Supreme Court (SC). Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi administered the oath of office to the four judges. The President’s assent was based on the recommendation of the Supreme Court Collegium consists of CJI Ranjan Gogoi, Justice Madan B Lokur, Justice Kurian Joseph, Justice A K Sikri and Justice S A Bobde. The apex court has a sanctioned strength of 31. With the elevation of these four new judges, the strength has risen from 24 to 28.

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India’s first asymmetrical cable-stayed bridge “Signature Bridge” has recently inaugurated by the Chief Minister of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal across the Yamuna River. The bridge connects Outer Ring Road on the western flank of the Yamuna river with the Wazirabad Road on the east. It shortens the travel time between north and northeast Delhi. The 675-metre long bridge, originally conceptualised in 2004, has finally available for public use from November 5. Just like the Eiffel Tower in France, Signature Bridge will also have the facility to transport tourists on top of the main pillar, which is 154 m high, from where distance view of North Delhi can be seen.The pylon of the Signature bridge is tallest structure in Delhi and is double the height of Qutb Minar, which act as selfie points for people.